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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

15 minutes...

The count down to Squam is getting serious! I'm so excited and totally consumed with making, listing, packing, and laundry (yesterday there were 3 loads of deconstructed linen clothes for two of my workshops!). In the midst of it all, I had a sudden and urgent need to make something frivolous. This happens to me under pressure. So, I gave myself 15 minutes to play with no rules or directions. I set a timer, and began pulling things off shelves. The next thing I knew, I was covering a wooden bracelet in Mod Podge and topping it with some scraps of paper cut into tiles.
I didn't work slowly, nor meticulously... I just dove in and started cutting, getting sticky and having fun. It was the perfect way to blow off some steam. I may do this again today if I start to feel harried. Set the timer, and then see what happens... want to try it, too? Here are some suggestions:

Give yourself a short amount of time, or you'll start to think too hard.

Work in a medium that feels loose: glue, crayons,water colors, ripping paper or fabric.

Don't have expectations for a certain outcome.

Set judgments aside.

Enjoy yourself!

*bracelet components are just things I've had in my studio for years so I'm not clear on sources, but paper is from Amy Butler (5 years ago?), wooden bracelet from craft store (Michael's, but not certain).

13 comments:

Hi Maya! I love this idea. My expectations for myself and creativity are always too high and I end up not *making* and *creating* as much as I could if I were less rigid with constraints. Off to find a timer... (LOVE the AB paper!)

Thanks so much for mentioning our fundraiser. We've reached $2510 this morning!! Less than $500 to go before midnight to make our $3K goal. Fingers crossed... The generosity and support have been ah-mazing!

I love to work this way when I am buried and in danger of getting stuck in all the To-Dos. Hmm... actually, that's a regular day. That's why I built my workbench to counter height, so I can work standing up and on-the-fly. :)

i do this too! the night before i was flying to seattle i made a cover for my ipod. just had to and i still marvel at it. i love doing things like that - no time so you have to go straight to the source. no dithering, no worrying -so liberating! the bracelet is very cool. enjoy squam!